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Bringing Together Engineering and Management Students for a Project-Based Global Idea-thon: Towards Next-Gen Design Thinking Methodology.
The epidemiological situation in the world has changed the lives of people. More and more people from all over the world are switching to work online, so other up-to-date approaches to human interaction have become extremely relevant. Interaction in virtual teams affected not only work activities but also hackathons and conferences. To respond to the new challenges of holding events with a large number of participants we need: a convenient and simple platform for virtual teams, finding the optimal and appropriate target audience, round-the-clock remote support from organizers.
To solve these problems, engineering and business students, together with SAP, explored this area as part of an internship.
Our paper presents the results of the work that has been done. Firstly, with the help of Design Thinking methods, we conducted 60+ interviews with the representatives from various Russian and international companies and educational organizations to detect the problem to work on. We used online questionnaires and video-conferencing tools with interviewees to obtain data, the questionnaires included the topics such as online platforms usage and feedback, remote work, communication channels, general wellbeing (productivity, creativity, positive attitude, etc.), stress levels, and business alterations. Secondly, the engineering framework was constructed based on the results of the case study. And the last important part of our research paper will be dedicated to the 1st research international online hackathon. This hackathon was held with the aim of creating a platform that will allow people to cope with the isolation and absence of community engagement. The hackathon equipped students and young researchers with digital tools and theoretical educational frameworks to address some of the most complex challenges of creating the platform for the post-COVID-19 era.
In this study, we use Stanford Design Thinking Methods. There are many creative technologies and approaches to generating new products and ideas, but we have chosen design thinking methods because they are human-centered, encourage innovative thinking, and ensure that the final outcome meets set objectives and requirements.